Eriez Magnetics
 Inspection system adapts to products

 
 The "XR-21" series cabinet inspection system from Eriez Magnetics (Erie, PA) incorporates adaptive algorithms that enhance the machine's performance. Ray Spurgeon, manager of inspection systems at Eriez, says the system adapts automatically to product changes. The algorithms automatically recalculate parameters as each product is inspected, thus minimizing operator interface and the potential for error, according to Spurgeon.

 The algorithms complement the system's low-energy X-ray generators to obtain high resolution and sharp images. The algorithms help users disregard environmental factors and nonhomogenous products to better identify broken and contaminated products.

 In addition, the system includes connectors for USB and network interfaces, which can be used for memory devices and external instruments. The connectors allow customers to receive real-time technical support. The system also features user-friendly touch-screen technology and does not need frequent calibration.
 

Netzsch Fine Particle Technology
 Bead mill produces nanoparticles


 The "MicroCer" laboratory mill from Netzsch Fine Particle Technology (Exton, PA) is designed for feasibility studies in batches from 75 mL to 400 mL. The mill consistently reduces particle size to less than 200 nm. The machine uses Netzsch's patented, dynamic-cartridge media-separation system. The system's agitator shaft accelerates grinding media away from a cylindrical screen, thus providing superior separation and even distribution of the grinding media. The system also improves the particle-size distribution of the final product.

 The separation system reduces wear on the unit and provides precise temperature control. The machine's zirconium-oxide chamber components also reduce wear and prevent metal contamination in the product. Operators can work with batches as small as 75 mL. The mill's results are scalable to production quantities. 

Articles

This issue of Equipment & Processing Report features products from Eriez Magnetics and Netzsch Fine Particle Technology

March 2008 Editor's Picks: Eriez Magnetics and Netzsch Fine Particle Technology

When seeking to increase productivity, companies must consider worker–machine and worker–materials interactions. These factors are easy to overlook, but they affect workers’ performance and health and a company’s bottom line.

Laboratory and manufacturing equipment is often uncomfortable to use or inadequately designed. Work schedules and operating procedures sometimes fail to consider workers’ physical needs and limitations. Companies that apply ergonomics principles to address these issues see dramatic results in terms of reduced absenteeism, fewer injuries, and improved productivity.

Risk factors for primary work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) include awkward postures, fatiguing forces, vibration, contact stress, ill-fitting gloves, and cold temperatures. Applying ergonomics principles reduces these factors because equipment and workspaces are designed according to workers’ abilities and physical limitations. 


 Lean manufacturing minimizes waste in the system; ergonomics minimizes risk. The optimal blending of both lean and ergonomic principles enables employees to continuously spot and eliminate waste while addressing the potential for WMSDs. 

Engineers in the pharmaceutical industry are increasingly considering human factors early in their design process. Equipment designers are taking an active, rather than reactive, approach to ergonomics. Designers of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing processes seek to identify unnecessary motions and excessive material transportation.

Motions such as retrieving distant supplies and components are excessive and increase the time required to perform tasks. Wasteful movements also contribute to ergonomic risk. The farther an employee must go, the greater the ergonomic risks, and the greater the cycle times.

A constant challenge in API manufacturing is material handling, i.e., adding solid materials and retrieving solid intermediates and finished products. Engineering controls improve this work flow by changing the physical features of the workplace. Changes may include reducing object weights, changing work-surface heights, and purchasing lifting aids. With engineering modifications, a workstation can suit human dimensions and capabilities.

Assembling and disassembling installations

Bending and reaching to retrieve ingredients and equipment. 

To prevent motion waste and promote ergonomically correct postures:

Minimize the distances required to retrieve materials and tools 

Position workstation surfaces to promote neutral postures.

Reduce excessive material transportation.

 In a typical multistory API plant, transportation waste such as repeated handling of products (as may occur during charging into vessels) creates ergonomic risk as well. Large components and containers are difficult for operators to handle and move. When operators use awkward postures frequently, they increase ergonomic risk. Transportation should thus be minimized.

Examples of material-transportation waste include:

Off-line analytical systems that increase transportation between the process and product.

Minimize material handling; try to eliminate intermediate isolation, storage, and returns to the plant.

Use hard-piped liquids and gases when possible and limit solids handling of raw materials.

Use online analytical systems to reduce the transportation distances between process and product.

Overall, ergonomic principles open up new dimensions in continuous improvement. More pharmaceutical manufacturers are recognizing the importance of integrating ergonomic solutions into their business processes. When companies take up the challenge of transforming their environment, they achieve the manufacturing-performance improvements that the market demands.

Josh Kerst is a vice-president and ergonomics consultant for Humantech, an ergonomics consulting firm. 

In the Mixer

When seeking to increase productivity, companies must consider worker–machine and worker–materials interactions. These factors are easy to overlook, but they affect workers' performance and health and a company's bottom line.

Manufacturing Improvements Begin with the Operator

Packaging processes, like other pharmaceutical operations, benefit from the speed and repeatability that automation brings. Robotics in particular provide flexibility and accuracy. In some packaging applications such as carton loading, robotics also perform more efficiently than dedicated machines.

Pharmaceutical packaging machines are often custom-designed to handle specific product configurations such as vials. Richard Bahr, president and CEO of MGS Machine (Maple Grove, MN), observes that it is sometimes impractical to perform full life-cycle testing on special machines’ designs. Conversely, the mechanical design of robots is tested to well-established functional limits. “As long as the robot is being used within its specified limits for speed and payload, you can count on it not failing,” Bahr comments.

In addition to reliable operation, robotics provide flexibility because they can be programmed for multiple consecutive or simultaneous tasks. For example, a single robot can load cases into a side-loading system and place lidstock on packed products. Robotics perform “multiple functions that would be much more expensive to do with a custom mechanism because of the motion range and the reorientation required,” according to Dick Motley, engineering manager at FANUC Robotics North America (Rochester Hills, MI). Thus, a single robot often can replace multiple pieces of conventional packaging machinery, saving the manufacturer time and money.

The end effecter is the key to robotics’ flexibility, according to Walt Langosch, director of sales and marketing at ESS Technologies (Blacksburg, VA). End effecters with quick-release connections typically reduce changeover time to less than two minutes, he says. One robot may be programmed to handle several products, and a robot originally programmed for one product can be given a new end effecter and programming to perform a new application. In contrast, application-specific automation equipment designed to handle one product “becomes obsolete or requires expensive retooling when a manufacturer wants to run a new product on an existing packaging line,” Langosch explains.

Besides being able to handle various products, robots can fit the requirements of products’ manufacturing processes. For example, robotics can be adapted to work in aseptic environments. Cleanroom robots have features that protect the sterile environment from potential contamination. These features include low-flake coatings on the robotic arm, stainless steel fasteners, special seal materials, and enclosed cables. All of these features reduce the amount of debris the robot sheds. Robots can also be created with a smooth finish that does not retain particles, support bacterial growth, or rust. The presence of human personnel in a cleanroom environment poses the highest contamination risk, but the use of robots can reduce the number of personnel involved in the packaging process and thus, significantly reduce this risk.

Robots provide more than just repeatability. Operators can build in robust error-checking and fault tolerance to robotics as well. Robots’ range of motion and dexterity allow them to provide more recovery options than other automated equipment. If a defective product causes a jam in a carton-loading operation, for example, conventional packaging equipment might destroy the product lot or require an operator’s intervention. “A robot can sense the fault and take a recovery path or take an active role in ejecting the defective product,” Motley remarks. The result is increased uptime and greater operating efficiency than is achievable with dedicated machines. 

In contrast to packaging machines that automatically stop if too much product accumulates at the discharge, robotic loaders and unloaders meet or exceed the infeed and discharge rates that packaging machines require. “This ability allows the robot to keep the packaging process running at full production capacity,” according to Langosch.

Traditional packaging machines cannot react to product variations. Integrating high-level sensory functions into robotics, on the other hand, is becoming common. This trend can improve the packaging process. Vision sensing systems, for example, permit robots to orient product correctly on the packaging line, so operators “don’t have to present everything perfectly,” Motley comments. “The same cameras that guide the robot can also perform inspections and detect defective product,” he adds.

“The real value of robotics is much better quality control” compared with alternative systems, agrees Lloyd Spencer, president and CEO of CoroWare (Redmond, WA). Though quality control may be the biggest service that robotic systems perform, the flexibility, repeatability, and speed they offer can also make life easier for packaging operators.

Production Lines

Robotics Bring Flexibility to Packaging Operations

This year, INTERPHEX will take place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 26–28. 

 asked RJ Palermo, industry vice-president of Reed Life Sciences and INTERPHEX, to share his thoughts and expectations about the upcoming event. 

Q: INTERPHEX returns to Philadelphia this year. Why was Philadelphia chosen? What opportunities will Philadelphia present for INTERPHEX this year?

A: Philadelphia is a major life-sciences hub, and we see it as an opportunity to attract additional participants that may be more able to attend because of the city’s proximity to their business or facility.

Q: How do you think the location will affect the mood of the show? 

A: The INTERPHEX audience always brings a strong energy, but I think the move to Philadelphia will provide increased energy because of its convenient location. A change in venue gives some added value, too.

Q: With regard to the exhibitor gallery, are you aware of any new trends in equipment this year? What should attendees look for on the exhibit floor?

A: Every year, INTERPHEX has new technology on the floor. The industry is changing, and changing at a rapid pace. And the regulatory environment is changing-not just FDA, but global regulators, too. The show floor will showcase technology that will be the catalyst for these changes.

Q: What might attendees be surprised to find?

A: I think among the surprises that attendees will find at this year's event is the range of opportunities to learn, source product, and network. INTERPHEX is truly an industry gathering, offering practical education, provocative and visionary keynotes, and literally thousands of products. The event provides countless opportunities to expand industry contacts, whether through participation in our conference programming, attendance at networking events, reconnecting with suppliers and customers, or simply shopping the show.

Q: The theme of this year’s show is “the evolution of the life sciences.” Can you explain why this theme was chosen and how it will be reflected throughout the conference sessions?

A: Our industry is not static, as we all know. Many blockbuster drugs are going off patent. The traditional pharmaceutical industry is changing. Biologics and combination products are in the forefront. Manufacturers must keep ahead of the curve and continue to focus on processes and the efficacy of producing drugs for general use, vaccines, or in response to bioterrorism. Our industry is about accelerating patient healthcare globally, and we want to make sure that resonates. Thus as the industry evolves, we want to make sure that we evolve and support the industry.

In regards to how the conference will reflect the evolution of the life sciences, the PharmaMedDevice colocation, and the introduction of BIOTECHNICA America are excellent references. Responding to the growing convergence between pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical-device industries, the Philadelphia event provides educational opportunities in all three fields. Offering crossover attendance to both the show floors and the conference sessions between INTERPHEX and PharmaMedDevice enables individuals to enhance their experience and knowledge. PharmaMedDevice specifically addresses the regulatory and manufacturing challenges related to the convergence of drugs and biologicals with medical devices and explores the current technologies revolutionizing the life-science industry as a whole.

Q: What might regular INTERPHEX attendees find exciting or different about this year’s conference in comparison with years past?

A: The three keynotes. They reflect the theme of evolution. G. Steven Burrill will share his biotechnology vision with attendees. A panel discussion about the convergence of the three industries promises to be exciting. And our last-day discussion of the industries’ rapid-response capabilities and unique role in addressing global healthcare issues should be lively. These are all pretty forward-thinking presentations.

 In addition, INTERPHEX is delivering on its promise to educate the industry. Our new “Basics and Building Blocks” track serves as a primer on key subjects for those new to the industry. We’re also presenting new sessions about important topics such as biotechnology, single-use technologies, and technology enablers.

This year, INTERPHEX will take place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 26?28. Equipment and Processing Report asked RJ Palermo, industry vice-president of Reed Life Sciences and INTERPHEX, to share his thoughts and expectations about the upcoming event.

Equipment and Processing Report-03-19-2008

March 2008 Editor's Picks: Eriez Magnetics and Netzsch Fine Particle Technology

Manufacturing Improvements Begin with the Operator

Robotics Bring Flexibility to Packaging Operations

Philadelphia Pharma: Pharmaceutical Technology Talks to INTERPHEX Head RJ Palermo